MLB honored Giants and Oakland Athletics stars to commemorate a July that included fireworks of their own.
Blake Snell, Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler, represented the Bay Area as honorees on MLB’s July Team of the Month released Thursday.
Presenting to you July's Team of the Month ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/cOyWqOZ8Lk
— MLB (@MLB) August 1, 2024
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Snell has flourished recently after allowing 25 earned runs over his first six starts.
The 2023 NL Cy Young Award winner returned to form, collecting 30 strikeouts while posting a 0.75 ERA and 0.63 WHIP in 24 innings over four starts. Snell allowed opponents just eight hits and a .104 batting average.
The 54-56 Giants won three of Snell’s four July starts.
San Francisco and its fans have been waiting to see Snell perform like the big name who signed a two-year, $62 million contract (with an opt-out after the 2024 MLB campaign) in the offseason.
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“We just got to win,” Snell said postgame Saturday about how he deals with outside speculation. “We win, I ain't going nowhere. At least I believe that. I don't really know, I've seen crazy things happen.”
"We just got to win. We win, I ain't going nowhere."
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 28, 2024
Blake Snell isn't fazed by trade rumors ahead of Tuesday's deadline 😤 pic.twitter.com/G1zJJ2S2nj
That player has arrived -- and ultimately survived the trade deadline -- and the league took notice.
Rooker and Butler, meanwhile, just led the 45-65 A’s to their best month-long stretch in two years.
Rooker finished July slashing .391/.461/.828 over 24 appearances with 34 hits, 30 RBI, a league-leading 11 home runs and five steals.
Butler ended with a slash line of .363 ./408/.802 in the same stretch, with 33 hits, 27 RBI, 10 homers and six steals.
Oakland finished the month 15-9, which marks the first time the A’s finished an individual month above .500 since July 2022 when they were 14-12.
“I know I’m playing pretty good, too, but you got Brent Rooker over there raking,” Butler told NBC Sports California Friday. “The whole team is putting it together now.”
The two swinging A’s will be in the running with Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. for AL Player of the Month.
Despite their team’s sub-.500 records, Snell, Rooker and Butler have dominated.
Will they keep putting on for the Bay in the last two months of the regular season?